Anybody plays this game?

What would you care to tell me about it? Is it cool? Is it worth getting when you can play D&D instead? Are the miniatures of the same 28-30 mm size as Reaper/D&D/whatnot miniatures?

I also would be curious. It looks cool, but the price point keeps stopping me.

On a slightly related note, I've been playing a lot of Runebound and loving it lately.

The rules are free; you can play with a battlemat and miniatures.

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=5&esem=4

Edit: also if you're using "The Road to Legends" expansion, you can use the same character through multiple games and scenario packs, essentially making it a campaign RPG.

I haven't played Road to Legends, but the main game is has a cool look.

It's a LONG game (6 hours is fair, although if you have fast players, 4 hours is possible, or so I'm told...takes 6 hours+ every time for me/my group). Lots of fiddly bits, and quirky, and the climactic battles at the end are usually anticlimactic.

Oh, and it takes up MUCH space, you'd best use a table that seats six.

For all that, I don't regret a nickel I spent buying it, lots of hours of amusement here. It's worth getting when you can play 4e instead, or even D&D, just a different game (the GM of Descent is truly supposed to be trying to kill the players, among other important differences). The miniatures are mostly the same scale, perhaps slightly larger for 'medium' figures, a bit smaller for the larger figures.

Quote from: Doom;428811I haven't played Road to Legends, but the main game is has a cool look.

It's a LONG game (6 hours is fair, although if you have fast players, 4 hours is possible, or so I'm told...takes 6 hours+ every time for me/my group). Lots of fiddly bits, and quirky, and the climactic battles at the end are usually anticlimactic.

Oh, and it takes up MUCH space, you'd best use a table that seats six.

For all that, I don't regret a nickel I spent buying it, lots of hours of amusement here. It's worth getting when you can play 4e instead, or even D&D, just a different game (the GM of Descent is truly supposed to be trying to kill the players, among other important differences). The miniatures are mostly the same scale, perhaps slightly larger for 'medium' figures, a bit smaller for the larger figures.

Road to Legends definitely has it so you can preserve the same characters over several different scenarios.

It's quite cool, actually.

I may do the big buy in when some cash gets freed up in a few weeks.

I haven't played Descent: Journeys of the dark as yet – haven't paid much attention to it. But I think it'll be worth trying it out from what I hear about it!! Love these adventurous games and this one sure has quite a bit of it!! I am sure it won't be disappointing being published by FFG!!

Quote from: Benoist;428794Anybody plays this game?

What would you care to tell me about it? Is it cool? Is it worth getting when you can play D&D instead? Are the miniatures of the same 28-30 mm size as Reaper/D&D/whatnot miniatures?

I play it fairly regularly.  We bust it out when no one is prepared to run an RPG but, more importantly, non-RPGers are somehow really attracted to this game.  Girlfriends, brothers, hangers-on, we can get them all to sit down and play it.  So, for some, it could be a good "gateway" game along the lines of MB HeroQuest.  But, no, it isn't an RPG; play D&D instead if you have your power team assembled but play Descent if you need a break or your brother-in-law is visiting for the weekend.  Doom's warning of the six-hour session should be heeded and expected, but only during your early experiences; the first mission is rather large, plus everyone is learning.  I'd say the typical game takes about three+ hours for us now (as little as 1.5 if the Overlord wins

You're a lot more picky about minis than I am.  I'll just say I dig the ones that came with Descent.  They're the same scale but slightly better sculpts than the ones that come with Cadwollon.  The tiles that come with the game are quite lovely too.  Everything is nice quality, but the plastic minis bend easily and need to be repacked immediately.  

If you can get Descent at a slight discount, you will probably discover the box contents alone worth the price, but it's a fun game too.  It plays a lot like a "fixed" HeroQuest; there is an internal clock running by way of the Overlord's threat deck (a hand of cards representing traps and spells), which keeps the party moving.  Monster strength scales to the number of players, so you don't have to agonize over filling the party ranks.

It is not my favorite board game, but I'm asked to bring it along with me a lot now - it's grown on several people in both of my gaming groups and a couple of family members.  It's not D&D, but it does seem to be a big crowd pleaser in my circles.

Hi,

Could anyone tell me if kids aged 10 and 12 can play this or is it too difficult? Could they play it on their own or would they need assistance? They love fantasy games, play lots of boardgames and Warhammer (the minis game).

Thanks

Quote from: Benoist;428794Anybody plays this game?

What would you care to tell me about it? Is it cool? Is it worth getting when you can play D&D instead? Are the miniatures of the same 28-30 mm size as Reaper/D&D/whatnot miniatures?

Descent plays like a partially lobotomized version of a D&D dungeon crawl.

It's hypothetically useful in a scenario where you want to play something like a D&D dungeon crawl, but the DM has nothing prepped. IMO, however, you'd be better off setting up an open game table for D&D by either buying or prepping a megadungeon.

If you're using a version of D&D with fast character generation, you can get set-up and start playing the D&D game in about half the time that it takes to set-up Descent. And you'll have a lot more control over how long the game takes to play.

I am perpetually tempted to buy it for the high quality miniatures, but have yet to succumb to that temptation.

If you're looking for a dungeoncrawl boardgame, I recommend the D&D boardgames: They feature DM-less play and a very short playing time (typically around 60 minutes), which allows them to truly slot into gaming situations where D&D can't be played.

Quote from: Ysbryd;447404Could anyone tell me if kids aged 10 and 12 can play this or is it too difficult? Could they play it on their own or would they need assistance? They love fantasy games, play lots of boardgames and Warhammer (the minis game).

If they can play Warhammer, Descent should work just fine for them.

Treat yourself to Warhammer Quest instead. Sure its gonna be $200 on eBay, but the game is pure gold.

Descent is a fine game, but it too slow.  

If you want an equal game with faster gameplay at a low price point, hunt down TSR's Dragon Strike on eBay.  That's a surprising gem.

WHQ is pretty awesome, but I found my players had a better time keeping track of the math in Descent. I favor WHQ, too, though.

Dragon Strike, eh? Guess I'll put that on the agenda.

Here's a good breakdown on Dragonstrike. I prefer it slightly to HeroQuest because the mix of indoor/outdoor maps makes creating new quests pretty easy. Also, the boards are easy to use for regular RPG play too.  I find that it does RPG hybrid pretty nicely. Imagine OD&D with a board where the DM is trying to kill the PCs.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1149/dragon-strike